Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Volume 39 Number 1 Article 14

1973

Utopian Communalism: A Comparison of 19th and 20th Century Phenomena in the United States

Truman David Wood Mankato State College

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Recommended Citation Wood, T. D. (1973). Utopian Communalism: A Comparison of 19th and 20th Century Phenomena in the United States. Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science, Vol. 39 No.1, 27-29. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.morris.umn.edu/jmas/vol39/iss1/14

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science by an authorized editor of University of Minnesota Morris Digital Well. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Utopian Communalism: a comparison of 19th and 20th century phenomena in the United States

TRUMAN DAVID WOOD*

ABSTRACT - The utopian communal phenomenon has been present in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The longevity of various religious and secular utopian communal experiments is examined in terms of four organizational factors and the twentieth century communes are considered in terms of four ideals. The main stream of American society has assimilated nothing from these utopian communal experiments.

The utopian communal phenomenon is not new. It is appear periodically in college newspapers and so-called un­ similar to the nineteenth century phenomenon when Ralph derground newspapers asking those involved in communes to Waldo Emerson wrote to Thomas Carlyle in 1840: "We are please contact the researcher to facilitate the study. Needless all a little wild here with numberless projects of social re­ to say, many communes disappear before the contact is form. Not a reading man but has a draft of a new community accomplished or many communes refuse to respond to such in his waistcoat pocket .... One man renounces the use of ads because they are weary of visitors from the outside animal food; and another of coins; and another of domestic world. Kathleen Kinkade in A Walden Two Experiment hired labor; and another of the State . ... " ( 1973) notes the reluctance of commune members to re­ There is a high degree of similarity between nineteenth spond to questionnaires and how the novelty of visitors soon century and twentieth century utopian communal experi­ wears off in a typical commune. ments. The organizational factors which explained the The estimates of the number of utopian communal ex­ longevity of nineteenth century utopian communal experi­ periments are many and varied and general'ly range from ments could be applied to twentieth century utopian com­ several hundred to several thousand . These estimates for the munal experiments. l 970's can be compared with nineteen th century figures Those factors were: I. strong, effective leadership; 2. an (Holloway, 1966). Holloway stated that there were more adequate financial basis; 3. screening of prospective mem­ than one hundred communities with a total membership over bers; and 4. an ideology, creed, or dogma which provided a I 00,000. These figures must be regarded as only crude in­ unifying basis. Thus religious utopian communal experiments dices of this kind of activity as empirical research in tabulat­ have generally survived longer than secular efforts lacking a ing and studying utopian communal experiments is ex­ strong ideology . tremely difficult, but the estimates do illustrate the point Richard Fairfield in Communes USA : A Personal Tour that during times of tension and upheaval in society there is a (1972) stated that a commune's contribution should not renewed interest in a more perfect form of social, political, necessarily be evaluated in terms of longevity. He argued that and economic organization. This interest manifests itself in if the members develop a greater awareness of self and the form of writing and reading utopian literature and also in others, then the commune must be considered a success. the form of utopian communal experiments. There has been Fairfield's value orientation is the individual. Success can be a marked increase in both forms in recent years. seen differently if other values are given top priority. Thus The communal experiment may come as a response to longevity has been selected, rather than Fairfield's value of some literary utopia. An example would be Kathleen Kin­ success, as the focus of this paper. kade's Twin Oaks, which was in response to B. F. Skinner's An examination of nineteenth century utopian communal ideas in Walden 1\vo. The utopian communal experiment experiments shows that there was a high incidence of organi­ may be a more generalized flight from the imperfections of zational fatality. Many of the communal efforts were of ex­ the ongoing society. The rejection of exist,ing society is often tremely short duration and there is little historical evidence a withdrawal-to-reorganize reaction. Typically several people of their organizational structure, basic philosophy, or other perceive their inability to change the policies and structures features. The same can be said of the utopian communal of modern American society and they choose to "do their experiments in recent years. own thing" in a secluded setting. They choose to establish Numerous efforts have been made to tabulate and study the perfect society in a microcosm rather than to futilely these American utopian communal efforts. Advertisements struggle toward the establishment of utopia in the macro­ cosm. Many times the utopian communal experiment is the *TRUMAN DAVID WOOD received the B.S. degree from Mankato (Minn.) State College; and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees combination of the impact of utopian literature plus the re­ from the University of Iowa. He was chairman of an advisory jection of American society . subcommittee of political scientists to the Governor's Bipar­ tisan Commission on Legishtive Reapportionment in Nineteenth Century Examples 1964-1965; a Fellow of the National Center for Education in Politics at the Republican National Convention in 1964; The utopian communal experiments of the nineteenth member of the Mankato (Minn.) Planning Commission since century might be classified broadly as either religious or 1967; and creator and narrator bf " Critics' Corner," a news analysis program on KMSU-FM . He is currently Professor of secular. Some examples of the religious type would be the Political Science at Mankato State College. Shakers, the Rappites, the Zoarites, Bishop Hill, and the

Journal of, Volume Thirty-nine, 1973. 27 Aman a Society, one of the largest and longest lasting utopian The North American Phalanx of Red Bank, New Jersey, a communal experiments in U.S. history. This list is not com­ secular utopian communal experiment, was established in prehensive, but it does contain well known examples. Typical 1843 with less than eighty members and $8,000 in capital, of the secular category were Robert Owen's New Harmony, which could be classified as inadequate by the standards of Brook Farm, the Icarians, and the phalanxes of Albert Bris­ the Frenchman Charles Fourier (Holloway, 1966). The bane's Association movement, such as the North American Association movement of Albert Brisbane was built upon Phalanx in New Jersey. Fourier's principles, and Fourier had indicated that a phalanx Precise empirical data is largely lacking concerning the had to have at least 1,600 members and capital amounting to nineteenth century utopian communal experiments, but one million francs. Brisbane had reduced the membership some generalized conclusions can be drawn from our limited minimum to four hundred and capital of $400,000. Brisbane knowledge and brief resumes of some selected experiments pointed out that none of the phalanxes was a true test of illustrate the four organizational factors which contribute to Fourier's theory because none ever met even the minimum the longevity of such entities. requirements of Brisbane. Of the more than forty such ex­ Eric Janson led a group of Swedish immigrants in found­ periments, only three survived beyond two years. The North ing Bishop Hill in Illinois in I 846 (Holfoway, 1966). This was American Phalanx lasted the longest of any phalanx, a total a communal settlement with a religious dogma, strong leader­ of twelve years. ship from Janson, but an inadequate initial financial basis. The North American Phalanx did use screening of mem­ The community overcame its financial problem by way of bership, but it lacked a strong dogma or creed, and some industrious effort and because one member recovered several members departed in its ninth year on religious grounds. thousand dollars worth of debts owed him in Sweden. Fire destroyed their workshops and mills in 1854 and the Janson's leadership was removed when he was murdered by a financial loss plus lagging spirits brought the end of the member who probably would not have been admitted to the phalanx with the longevity record for the Association move­ group had proper screening been used. The death of Janson ment. in 1850 was followed by a brief period of prosperity for the There was no outstanding phalanx leadership the equiva­ group, but real estate speculation and other dubious financial lent of Father George Rapp, Christian Metz, or Eric Janson; practices of the post-Janson leadership brought an end to the although Albert Brisbane, Horace Greeley, and William H. community in 1862. There was also a rapid deterioration in Channing helped prepare the groundwork for the North the strong religious ties of the community following J anson's American Phalanx and visited it often. death. The Rappites' success was due to Father George Rapp's Twentieth Century Examples spiritual leadership and the administrative ability of his The twentieth century utopian communal experiments adopted son (Holloway, 1966). They brought six hundred have a more diverse quality in general than the nineteenth colonists across the Atlantic in 1804-1805 without a mishap century phenomenon, but the fundamental classification of and transferred the colony from Pennsylvania to Indiana in religious and secular can still be applied. The religious cate­ 1814-1815 and back to another site in Pennsylvania in gory can be subdivided into traditional religious communes 1824-1825. The relative stability and economic success of from the past and modern. The modern subdivision can be the Rappite Harmony Society in Pennsylvania and Indiana divided further into contemporary Christian, eastern, and and then as Economy in Pennsylvania can be attributed to mystic. The secular category can be subdivided into ideo­ the religious dogma basis and strong leadership. Screening logical, group marriage, work-service, and drug-centered. was not effectively used, and a split did occur in 1831-1832; Kathleen Kinkade (1973) offers a similar but simpler but the Rappite group was prosperous enough to withstand classification: political, classical utopian, religious, and fam­ the loss of membership and the $105,000 given to the de­ ily-type. She in turn places Twin Oaks in the classical utopian parting group. The death of Rapp at age ninety and a policy category, but since it was inspired by Skinner's Walden Two, of celibacy contributed to the decline of this generally pros­ Twin Oaks would seem to be more appropriately placed in perous group which lasted until 1905. the secular-ideological category. The Amana Society likewise had strong and effective Twin Onks has survived for five years, and Kinkade and 1leadership in the early period of its long history from 1842 her daughter Jenny are the only two origina'l members still in until 1932 (Holloway, 1966). Christian Metz and other "in­ the commune. Kinkade was seeming surprised that the ex­ struments of the will of God" led German immigrants to a periment lasted, and her comments on this relate to the four 5,000 acre site near Buffalo, New York, in 1842. There they organizational factors: were organized as the Eben-Ezer Society. They sold their We didn't have any money to start with; we were heavily Buffalo settlement without loss and moved to an Iowa site dependent on the skills of one member, ... half of our original over a ten year period. The Amana Society, as the com­ members weren't dedicated to our principles; ... there wasn't munity was re-named in Iowa in 1859, benefited from an a truly charismatic leader among us, a situation that naturally lead to leadership struggles; ... we never had a common re­ adequate financial base. One wealthy member had con­ ligion, common community experience, or even a common tr,ibuted $50,000 to the community. There was a strong re­ enemy. ligious basis , and that religious dogma performed the screen­ Any one of those things could have killed us. The combi­ ing function to a degree, keeping out those who would not nation was almost certain to. How is it we have survived? I am not sure, but I think the answer to that question is just subscribe to the doctrinal requirements. The Amana Society, that we didn't give up .... which lasted until 1932 as a communal effort, was a 20,000 It would be an exaggeration to say that Twin Oaks has acre operation. succeeded as a commune. After all, ... we still lose members

28 The Minnesota Academy of Science to the outside world. Our apparent sucess is only in compari­ would hold the following ideals: I. the simple, essential life son with communes that have folded, and with our apparent of food, clothing, and shelter which can be attained by shar­ chances those first two doubtful years (Kinkade, 1973). ing in common and not wasting natural resources; 2. back to Twin Oaks is a relatively small unit, and membership losses the simple, natural, and good life on the land, a variation of are particularly critical to small units. That a book about a the old Agrarian Myth theme; 3. discovery of self and human fiv-year-old commune with forty members and one hundred qualities; and 4. setting the example of what a shift to com­ acres was published and widely read may be indicative that munal life could do for all of society. there are no better success stories of secular utopian com­ munal experiments. There may have been such a high fatality Testing society and examining alternatives rate among secular communal experiments of the ideological, group marriage, work-service, and drug-centered types that a At a time in human history when a series of serious ques­ five year longevity record seems to be significant. tions are being raised about the structure and functioning of The impressionistic evidence in terms of books, magazine American society, utopian communal experiments are testing articles, and oral personal accounts would seemingly convey how pluralistic American society really is and whether many the overall picture of leadership problems, financial prob­ Americans are genuinely interested in the alternatives lems, membership problems, and interpersonal strife resulting afforded by the micrososms of communal ism. from a lack of strong dogma, creed, or ideology in secular The nineteenth cen truy utopian communal groups, such as communal experiments. the Shakers, made some contributions to American culture in Although Twin Oaks has survived for five years in spite of terms of agricultural science and other non-political areas, the state of the four organizational factors , it should be re­ but the main stream of American society assimilated virtually membered that several nineteenth century utopian com­ nothing in terms of political or social structures or devices. munal experiments lasted longer and still ultimately failed. The majority of American society ignored the alternatives The test is not over for Twin Oaks. Its longevity record thus posed by nineteenth century groups. far is relatively short. At this point in the twentieth century there is little or One subdivision of the secular category of twentieth nothing to suggest that contemporary utopian communal century utopian communal experiments, the work-service groups have made any contributions to American culture be­ commune, is different from the nineteenth century types. yond those made by nineteenth century groups. The work­ Another is the drug-centered commune. The work-service service communes may be the single exception to this gener­ type may differ even more than the drug-centered type does alization. The main stream of American society has likewise from the nineteenth century models. The work-services type is assimilated virtually nothing in te1ms of political or socia'l generally not a back-to-the-land retreat from urbanization structures or devices and has ignored the alternatives offered and outside society. The work-service commune is organized by the twentieth century utopian communal groups. around a professional skill such as architecture, education, law, or engineering. Such a commune, unlike other com­ munal experiments, is regarded as a means for a project or projects rather than an end. The communal ownership and References communal cooperation are present, but the work-service FAIRFIELD, RICHARD. 1972. Communes USA: A Personal commune tends to have its feet in both worlds to a greater Tour. Baltimore, Penguin Books. degree than other twentieth century types. HEDGEPATH, WILLIAM and STOCK, DENNIS. 1971. The The Portola Institute of Menlo Park, California. is the Alternative. New York, Collier. largest and best known educational commune. The Palo Alto HOLLOWAY, MARK. 1966. Heavens on Earth: Utopian Law Commune takes fee cases in order to support its non­ Communities in America, 1680-1880. 2nd ed. New York, profit legal projects. The Pacific Domes Institute and the Ant Dover Publications. Farm are examples of architectural-design communes. Al­ KINKADE, KATHLEEN. 1973. A Walden Two Experiment: though all of these work-service communes are located in The First Five Years of Twin Oaks Community. New California, there are examples in other parts of the country York, William Morrow & Co. also. NORDHOFF, CHARLES. 1875. The Communistic Societies The urban-situated or urban-oriented work-service com­ of the United States, From Personal Visit and Obser­ mune is a twentieth century entity and is in contrast to the vation. New York, Harper & Bros. rural-oriented nineteenth century utopian communal experi­ NOYES, JOHN HUMPHREY. 1870. History of American ments. Socialisms. Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott & Co. The work-service communes do not completely subscribe SKINNER, B. F. 1948. Walden Two. New York, Macmillan to the four fundamental ideals held by the utopian com­ Co. munal experiments. Most of the other subtypes of twentieth "The Utopian Urge : You Make the Future Today." Harper's, century religious and secular utopian communal experiments 246: 147.

Journal of, Volume Thirty-nine, 1973. 29